Tuesday evening March 28

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.Lord, come quickly and help us.

Hear our voice, Lord, according to your faithful love,according to your judgment give us life.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,to you be glory and praise forever.In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our heartsto give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Godin the face of Jesus Christ.Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence,that freed from the misery of sin and shamewe may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,so may your mercy come down upon usto cleanse our heartsand set us free to sing your praisenow and forever.Amen.

Hymn

All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord

Charles Wesley

All praise to our redeeming Lord,Who joins us by his graceAnd bids us, each to each restored,Together seek his face.

He bids us build each other up;And gathered into one,To our high calling’s glorious hope,We hand in hand go on.

The gift which he on one bestows,We all delight to prove;The grace through every vessel flows,In purest streams of love.

We all partake the joy of one;The common peace we feel;A peace to sensual minds unknown,A joy unspeakable.

And if our fellowship belowIn Jesus be so sweet,What greater blessings shall we knowWhen round his throne we meet?

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

My God, for love of youI desire to hate and forsake all sinsby which I have ever displeased you;and I resolve by the help of your graceto commit them no more;and to avoid all opportunities of sin.Help me to do this,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord enrich us with his grace,and nourish us with his blessing;the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil;the Lord accept our prayers,and absolve us from our offenses,for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 80

Refrain:Restore us, God of heavenly forces! Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Shepherd of Israel, listen! You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep. You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.Show yourself before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh! Wake up your power! Come to save us!Restore us, God! Make your face shine so that we can be saved!Lord God of heavenly forces, how long will you fume against your people’s prayer?You’ve fed them bread made of tears; you’ve given them tears to drink three times over!You’ve put us at odds with our neighbors; our enemies make fun of us.Restore us, God of heavenly forces! Make your face shine so that we can be saved!You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it.You cleared the ground for it; then it planted its roots deep, filling the land.The mountains were covered by its shade; the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.It sent its branches all the way to the sea; its shoots went all the way to the Euphrates River.So why have you now torn down its walls so that all who come along can pluck its fruit, so that any boar from the forest can tear it up, so that the bugs can feed on it?Please come back, God of heavenly forces! Look down from heaven and perceive it!Attend to this vine, this root that you planted with your strong hand, this son whom you secured as your very own.It is burned with fire. It is chopped down. They die at the rebuke coming from you.Let your hand be with the one on your right side— with the one whom you secured as your own— then we will not turn away from you!Revive us so that we can call on your name. Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces! Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Restore us, God of heavenly forces! Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Psalm prayer

Faithful shepherd of your people,as we look for the light of your countenance,restore in us the image of your gloryand graft us into the risen life of your Son,Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 82

Refrain:Rescue the lowly and the needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked!

God takes his stand in the divine council; he gives judgment among the gods:“How long will you judge unjustly by granting favor to the wicked? Give justice to the lowly and the orphan; maintain the right of the poor and the destitute!Rescue the lowly and the needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked!They don’t know; they don’t understand; they wander around in the dark. All the earth’s foundations shake. I hereby declare, “You are gods, children of the Most High—all of you!But you will die like mortals; you will fall down like any prince.”Rise up, God! Judge the earth because you hold all nations in your possession!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Rescue the lowly and the needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked!

Psalm prayer

God our deliverer,when the foundations are shakenand justice has departed,defend the poor and needyand give your people strength to fight all wrongin the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament readingExodus 2:23-3:20

A long time passed, and the Egyptian king died. The Israelites were still groaning because of their hard work. They cried out, and their cry to be rescued from the hard work rose up to God. God heard their cry of grief, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked at the Israelites, and God understood.

Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up.

When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

Moses said, “I’m here.”

Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that’s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. Now the Israelites’ cries of injustice have reached me. I’ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them. So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God said, “I’ll be with you. And this will show you that I’m the one who sent you. After you bring the people out of Egypt, you will come back here and worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, “If I now come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they are going to ask me, ‘What’s this God’s name?’ What am I supposed to say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. So say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” God continued, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how all generations will remember me.

“Go and get Israel’s elders together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me. The Lord said, “I’ve been paying close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. I’ve decided to take you away from the harassment in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land full of milk and honey.”’ They will accept what you say to them. Then you and Israel’s elders will go to Egypt’s king and say to him, ‘The Lord, the Hebrews’ God, has met with us. So now let us go on a three-day journey into the desert so that we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ However, I know that Egypt’s king won’t let you go unless he’s forced to do it. So I’ll use my strength and hit Egypt with dramatic displays of my power. After that, he’ll let you go.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingHebrews 9:15-28

This is why he’s the mediator of a new covenant (which is a will): so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance on the basis of his death. His death occurred to set them free from the offenses committed under the first covenant. When there is a will, you need to confirm the death of the one who made the will. This is because a will takes effect only after a death, since it’s not in force while the one who made the will is alive. So not even the first covenant was put into effect without blood. Moses took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the Law scroll itself and all the people after he had proclaimed every command of the Law to all the people. While he did it, he said, This is the blood of the covenant that God established for you. And in the same way he sprinkled the meeting tent and also all the equipment that would be used in the priests’ service with blood. Almost everything is cleansed by blood, according to the Law’s regulations, and there is no forgiveness without blood being shed.

So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be cleansed with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things had to be cleansed with better sacrifices than these. Christ didn’t enter the holy place (which is a copy of the true holy place) made by human hands, but into heaven itself, so that he now appears in God’s presence for us. He didn’t enter to offer himself over and over again, like the high priest enters the earthly holy place every year with blood that isn’t his. If that were so, then Jesus would have to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. Instead, he has now appeared once at the end of the ages to get rid of sin by sacrificing himself. People are destined to die once and then face judgment. In the same way, Christ was also offered once to take on himself the sins of many people. He will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

With all my heart I glorify the Lord!In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favoredbecause the mighty one has done great things for me.Holy is his name.He shows mercy to everyone,from one generation to the next,who honors him as God.He has shown strength with his arm.He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.He has pulled the powerful down from their thronesand lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good thingsand sent the rich away empty-handed.He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.

Luke 1:46-55

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offeredfor peacefor individuals and their needs

Prayers may include the following concerns:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmationThose serving through leadershipThose looking for forgivenessThose misled by the false gods of this present ageAll who are hungry

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Father, by your SpiritBring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Merciful Lord,absolve your people from their offenses,that through your bountiful goodnesswe may all be delivered from the chains of those sinswhich by our frailty we have committed;grant this, heavenly Father,for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Savior,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever.Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.